Your most essential bushcraft tool

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aarya

Member
Oct 5, 2006
32
0
42
Norway
I think i`d rather enjoy life, eat good food, have a good drink, and be a bit overweight, than go to a gym once, twice or three times a week. Not to say that you can`t do the former, and still go to the gym. I know it`s possible to enjoy life, and still be a gym rat. It just isn`t for me.

Like i say... My body is built for comfort, not for speed. ^_^
 

Brown Bear

Forager
May 12, 2009
129
0
Cambridge
I seem to have sparked a bit of debate with this thread. Some good points above. I would conclude that if your body is able, then why not make the most of it. You don't carry a quality knife around blunt, so why carry a capable body around blunt and unprepared.

Don't take your fitness too far though. I train at a thai boxing club where some fighters are so lean and fit, they get faint without small regular food energy top ups. No good in a survival situation.

I guess I see fitness as very important because my preferred style of bushcraft tends towards the remote wilderness, where you are more likely to find youself in a survival situation than in your local woods. But as John F says, the mind is an equally potent tool.
 

Barn Owl

Old Age Punk
Apr 10, 2007
8,245
5
58
Ayrshire
Fitness..?

I'm now unfit but can still go for miles.

About 10 yrs ago my shift and others decided to have a day on Arran,just up Goatfell.

At this time I hadn't done any extra physical stuff other than walk some Galloway hills.
I smoked and partook of various takeaways for my breaks.but wasn't overweight.

A good few younger ones were into their gym work.

Anyhow after getting to the top,having lunch,taking photos and having 2 or 3 fags we met the others on the way down with still about a quarter of the way to go to the top.

The other fellow with me was 5 years older.:rolleyes:

Now I'll maybe stop a few miles behind a youngster and camp,but I'll get to the destination just the same.
 

big_swede

Native
Sep 22, 2006
1,452
8
41
W Yorkshire
There is no Bush fit or gym fit, whoever believes that should go to a basic fitness class. Both cardiovascular and resistance training leads to more efficient energy consumption. This not a thesis but have been proven in numerous clinical tests. Having stronger muscles will make you less tired, and thus lessens risk of accidents. If you have a higher general fitness level you will have a more flat insulin level. Etc, there are so many ways that a higher fitness level will benefit you both in general and in the outdoors, just listing them would take weeks.

There is certainly no need to be super fit to enjoy the outdoors, but it will never be a con to be fit.

The statement of being built for speed or comfort is quite stupid, I'm certainly more comfortable being fit than I would being flimsy, having a gut etc. Speaking for me I can say that my training takes a lot of time, planning meals and rests takes time. But in the end it's all worth it! A nice side effect is that my heart rate and overall strain rate at moderate paces have decreased all though I generally train at quite high heart rates.

Yes mind is important, but the mind is nothing without the body. Survival of the fittest certainly has a physical aspect.
 

Kerne

Maker
Dec 16, 2007
1,766
21
Gloucestershire
Fitness..?

I'm now unfit but can still go for miles.

About 10 yrs ago my shift and others decided to have a day on Arran,just up Goatfell.

At this time I hadn't done any extra physical stuff other than walk some Galloway hills.
I smoked and partook of various takeaways for my breaks.but wasn't overweight.

A good few younger ones were into their gym work.

Anyhow after getting to the top,having lunch,taking photos and having 2 or 3 fags we met the others on the way down with still about a quarter of the way to go to the top.

The other fellow with me was 5 years older.:rolleyes:

Now I'll maybe stop a few miles behind a youngster and camp,but I'll get to the destination just the same.

I take ultra fit rugby playing 18 year olds up mountains sometimes and they slay me on the first climb. On the third or fourth we keep together and chat. After that I wait at the top with my mates (both around 60) while they join us. Like they say - experience and guile (and a bit of resiliance) outsmarts youth and vigour anytime...:)
 

Prawnster

Full Member
Jun 24, 2008
806
0
St. Helens
There is no Bush fit or gym fit, whoever believes that should go to a basic fitness class. Both cardiovascular and resistance training leads to more efficient energy consumption. This not a thesis but have been proven in numerous clinical tests. Having stronger muscles will make you less tired, and thus lessens risk of accidents. If you have a higher general fitness level you will have a more flat insulin level. Etc, there are so many ways that a higher fitness level will benefit you both in general and in the outdoors, just listing them would take weeks.

There is certainly no need to be super fit to enjoy the outdoors, but it will never be a con to be fit.

The statement of being built for speed or comfort is quite stupid, I'm certainly more comfortable being fit than I would being flimsy, having a gut etc. Speaking for me I can say that my training takes a lot of time, planning meals and rests takes time. But in the end it's all worth it! A nice side effect is that my heart rate and overall strain rate at moderate paces have decreased all though I generally train at quite high heart rates.

Yes mind is important, but the mind is nothing without the body. Survival of the fittest certainly has a physical aspect.

The importance of physical fitness sounds like something you are passionate about.

Curious as to why it didn't make it on to your signature but Knowledge, Skill and Experience did?:p :naughty:
 

Hobbit on a String

Tenderfoot
Jan 5, 2009
77
0
Aberdeenshire (Turriff)
I am Disabled in the respect i Epelipsy and have pneumococcal pneumonia. but it dont stop me being pout in our great outdoors when i am able to do so, there is fitness of the body, but what of the fitness of the heart,of our soul, the critical factor which pushes us all to be in the grerat fresh air.

Hobbit
 

Templar

Forager
Mar 14, 2006
226
1
48
Can Tho, Vietnam (Australian)
I remember at the Jungle warfare school the students would rock up, all leand and hard athletic types to undertake the advanced Recon courses (about two months long) and by the end of day three we would be sending guys back out on CASEVAC because their body's had started to self distruct, and the funny thing is they would give all us DS crap about being "heavy" or a little fat... knowledge told us better than the gym junkies... go in fat come out lean... so in my mind being a little over weight in this game is an advantage...
 

maddave

Full Member
Jan 2, 2004
4,177
39
Manchester UK
My most important bushcraft tool is this........
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TeeDee

Full Member
Nov 6, 2008
10,451
3,654
50
Exeter
Going to get all Yoda on yer bottom.

Spirit fills the Mind , Mind drives the Body

A strong spirit in a weak body is better then a weak spirit in a strong Body, but best is a strong spirit in a strong body.
 

Barn Owl

Old Age Punk
Apr 10, 2007
8,245
5
58
Ayrshire
I remember at the Jungle warfare school the students would rock up, all leand and hard athletic types to undertake the advanced Recon courses (about two months long) and by the end of day three we would be sending guys back out on CASEVAC because their body's had started to self distruct, and the funny thing is they would give all us DS crap about being "heavy" or a little fat... knowledge told us better than the gym junkies... go in fat come out lean... so in my mind being a little over weight in this game is an advantage...


That is so true...
I've seen and experienced it.
 

Sniper

Native
Aug 3, 2008
1,431
0
Saltcoats, Ayrshire
My body is a temple and I treat it as such, and those that know me can testify to same, the roof leaks and the rest is between a ruin and a pile of rubble. Can't do the walking anymore sadly, same for humping around loads. I'm pretty much down to car or bike to get me where I go and set up near to it rather than havin a heart attack or stroke, so I'm pretty well shackled to places I can get to however, I too believe my knowledge and skills to be the best tool for bushcraft.To walk 5 miles would take me most of about 6 hours with plenty of rest stops, and if carrying a pack or load then probably most of the day and I would be in no fit state to enjoy myself when I arrived at my destination.
All this said I do believe fitter folks can get into perhaps the more remote areas, quicker but I don't need to get into a remote spot to practice my skills and have an enjoyable couple of nights under the stars and that for me is the important bit in all this.
 

Barn Owl

Old Age Punk
Apr 10, 2007
8,245
5
58
Ayrshire
My body is a temple and I treat it as such, and those that know me can testify to same, the roof leaks and the rest is between a ruin and a pile of rubble. Can't do the walking anymore sadly, same for humping around loads. I'm pretty much down to car or bike to get me where I go and set up near to it rather than havin a heart attack or stroke, so I'm pretty well shackled to places I can get to however, I too believe my knowledge and skills to be the best tool for bushcraft.To walk 5 miles would take me most of about 6 hours with plenty of rest stops, and if carrying a pack or load then probably most of the day and I would be in no fit state to enjoy myself when I arrived at my destination.
All this said I do believe fitter folks can get into perhaps the more remote areas, quicker but I don't need to get into a remote spot to practice my skills and have an enjoyable couple of nights under the stars and that for me is the important bit in all this.

So true again John,
I believe in taking the enjoyment from where you are now and that can be obtained without excessive milage on foot,as we know in our airt;)

Of course it leaves us with sooooo much in the sw here that just hasn't been taken up by others...

Not that i'm commenting on your 'sveltdness' of course.

Feel free to...:nutkick:
 

Brown Bear

Forager
May 12, 2009
129
0
Cambridge
Going to get all Yoda on yer bottom.

Spirit fills the Mind , Mind drives the Body

A strong spirit in a weak body is better then a weak spirit in a strong Body, but best is a strong spirit in a strong body.


I filled my body with stong spirit last saturday, and it went all wobbly. Fell out of my hammock in the night and I didn't even wake up.
 

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